A Brief History of the Merengue

—Dr. Lynne Guitar (1999)
Dr. Lynne Guitar's Resume

When did the merengue begin? Where did the merengue come from? These are questions that make Dominican historians very uncomfortable about the republic’s national dance because, despite documentary evidence, they do not want to admit that it appears to have begun during 1822-1844, when the country was under Haitian control. (The Haitian meringue is nearly identical to the traditional Dominican merengue except that it has a slower tempo and is usually performed in a minor key, whereas the Dominican merengue is performed in a major key. The Haitian dance evolved from a syncretism of European dance styles and the calenda and chica dances that were popular among French San Domingue’s slaves.) To counter its Haitian origins, a myth arose that links Dominican merengue to Haitian resistance and the foundation of the Dominican Republic. An oral myth, it was first published in 1927 as the text for a musical album by Julio Alberto Hernández. In this romanticized version, a unit of Spanish soldiers was gathered around a campfire in 1844, celebrating their victory over a Haitian column in the Battle of Talanquera. They composed and sang the first merengue to mock the cowardice of one of their fellows, a mulatto deserter named Tomás Torres. The main soldier dancing around the campfire, supposedly, had been wounded in the leg during the battle, thus explaining what has been called the “limping” or “dragging” step of the dance.

Almost one hundred years later, at the height of the Trujillo Era, another myth arose, another political maneuver to “whiten” the dance and counter Fradique Lizardo’s assertions of its Haitian-African origins (Fradique Lizardo is recognized as the first scholar to legitimize studies of Afro-Dominican culture). These were assertions that historians like Flérida de Nolasco found “shocking” and “unpatriotic.” In her 1956 Santo Domingo y el folklor universal, she credits the musician Juan Baptista Alfonseca with the creation of the merengue. Alfonseca did compose many meringues in the 1850s that introduced the rhythms and themes of the new republic’s folk music to the upper classes, but he did not create the merengue.

One thing that is certain about the merengue is that it was attacked from the outset by the country’s elites for the “immoral” way it was danced (couples holding each other close) and for its “crude and obscene” lyrics. Debates raged in the capital’s Oasis newspaper about whether or not the dance should be outlawed (Puerto Rico’s governor did promulgate a fine and jail sentence for anyone caught dancing meringue on that island). By 1875, even the president of the Dominican Republic, Ulises Francisco Espaillat, was actively publishing diatribes against the merengue under the pseudonym “María.”

By the turn of the twentieth century, the elites were no longer playing meringues nor dancing them in their salons, but merengue had a strong foothold among the “folk.” Throughout the mostly illiterate Cibao in particular (the agricultural heartland of the country), merengue was an important means of oral communication and social commentary—and Espaillat’s political excesses were fertile fodder. The most popular merengue musician was the accordionist Francisco “Ñico” Lora from the Cibao, who wrote more than 500 merengues in the early 20th century. “He was like a journalist,” observed Augustín Pichardo, “because he commented on everything with his accordion.”

The typical instruments used to play merengue were the güira (scraper), tambora (a small drum that is made with the hide of a female goat on the side played with sticks and the hide of a male goat on the side played with the hand), guitar, cuatro (a small, four-stringed instrument), and an African stringed rhythm instrument called the marimba. The upper-class meringues introduced by Alfonseca also incorporated violins, flutes, and panderetas (a kind of tambourine). In the 1870s, Bernabé Morales and Joaquín Beltrán, two Spanish merchants in Santiago, introduced a new instrument, the German button accordion, which displaced the guitar and cuatro. Circa 1910, the saxophone was introduced, which would change the sound of “pop” merengue in the 1950s and blast in onto the international music scene.

Merengues at the turn of the century were composed of two parts. The first was a 16-measure segment called the merengue proper, and the second was a four to eight bars long jaleo segment in which the percussion section went wild with improvised variations (the word “jaleo” comes from Spain, where onlookers encourage Flamenco dancers with shouts and rhythmic hand clapping). In 1922 an introductory paseo of eight measures was added, inspired by the European waltzes and polkas, which set the standard for what has come to be called Merengue Típico (also called Clásico or Foklórico) , which is still cherished today.

The 1916-1924 U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic stimulated a renewal of upper-class interest in the merengue. The music was used as a political tool to strengthen Dominican pride and resistance. Ñico wrote a popular protest merengue at this time and Juan Francisco “Pancho” García popularized symphonies such as “La Quisqueya,” which were based on merengue themes. The oldest known merengue, “Juangomero,” was the standard closing number at elite balls of the era. The U.S. occupation was also the catalyst for at least two new variants of merengue: the merengue estilo yanki (yankee style merengue), which combined traditional choreography with a simple one-step dance from the U.S., and the pambiche (Palm Beach) style popularized by Monquito Peralta, a female accordionist in Puerto Plata. Her style, which she learned in the border region between the Dominican Republic and the Republic of Haiti, was faster than the typical Dominican merengue. The combination of faster beat and simpler dance steps became the national Dominican dance of the 1930s.

When Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina campaigned for the presidency in 1930 and 1931, he took along the merengueros Ñico Lora and Toño Abreau to sing his virtues—it was an inexpensive and effective means of propaganda. Rumor has it that Trujillo promoted merengue because he thought he cut a dashing figure on the dance floor with it and because he was too poor of a dancer for the more complicated European and U.S. dances of the era. He encouraged merengue’s popularity in the salons of the elite as well as in the pueblos of the poor, and he hired composer Luis F. Alberti to compile and rearrange all types of Dominican music, especially the merengue; Alberti’s orchestra became the Orquesta Presidente Trujillo and was one of the most popular of the Big Band Era. More sophisticated orchestrations of merengue were played beginning in 1941 with the inauguration of the National Conservatory of Music and the Ciudad Trujillo Symphony Orchestra. In 1946 merengue reached new heights when it was featured on the new La Voz radio station owned by Trujillo’s brother José, and with the 1952 launching of Trujillo’s national television station. Merengue continued to be played at political rallies and at places where foreigners congregated, such as concerts, high society salons, and tourist hotels. International big band leaders like Xavier Cougat, Edmundo Ros, and Billy Frometa integrated meringues into their sets.

The 1930s were the golden age of merengue, which had by then evolved into two main variants: perico ripiaos (also called típicos conjuntos), normally composed of three musicians, for the poor and dance bands of various sizes for the elite. Big-band ensembles like the Orquesta San Juan José, which featured vocalist Joseito Mateo, the “King of Merengue,” sped up the tempo of their arrangements, substituted the saxophone and other brass instruments for the accordion, and further “jazzed up” their merengues by eliminating the paseo introduction. After Trujillo’s assassination on May 3, 1961, the country and its music were subjected to more foreign influences than ever, for Trujillo had tried to control them. Not only more U.S. soldiers, but also American Rock ‘n’ Roll invaded the island, as did other forms of popular Caribbean music, including the Afro-Cuban rhythms of Salsa and Mambo, which had profound effects on merengue. The most popular new merenguero of the 1960s was Johnny Ventura, whose music was “happier,” faster and more “modern” than the music of the Trujillo Era. He was particularly inspired by Elvis Presley, explaining, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” His big hit of the 1970s, “Abusadora,” is still popular and succeeded in its mission “to get you to your feet.” The U.S. group called the Bee Gees, with their distinctive high-pitched voices, also had a profound influence on merengue.

Merengue has gone through dozens of evolutions in the past forty years. But one thing has not changed in well over 150 years—many still complain about merengue’s “suggestive” lyrics. The truth is that the dance’s contagious rhythms, simple steps, and down-to-earth, playful lyrics have combined to make it one of the most popular of international music and dance forms. And merengueros like Juan Luis Guerra still use merengue as a means to instill national pride and promulgate social messages. One of the most popular of Dominican meringues, for example, is “Ojalá que lleva café,” newly reorchestrated by Guerra. The song is based on the Dominican tradition whereby poor coffee farmers would head to the fields with only a flask of strong, heavily sugared coffee to fill their empty bellies. When empty, wouldn’t it be nice if it would rain coffee and they could refill the flasks? On a higher level, the song is also one of hope for more commercial success for the Dominican people, for it asks for more rain to increase the coffee crop, a commercial crop. And on an even higher level, the song is a prayer set to music and dance, a prayer for the hope of a better future for all of human kind—it is a prayer that reminds us of our roots and of the needs of the people of the campo, not just the needs of the elites…. Ojala que lleval café. Let’s all hope for a coffee rain.

ADDITIONAL READING: Unfortunately there’s not much available in English about merengue but for short newspaper articles, mostly out of New York, although most good guides to Latin American or Caribbean music cover it briefly. The most complete treatment is an unpublished master’s thesis by Paul Austerlitz, “A History of Dominican Merengue Highlighting the Role of the Saxophone” (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University, May 1986). Merengue is featured in J.M. Coopersmith’s Music and Musicians of the Dominican Republic (Washington, D.C.: Pan American Union, 1962) and in Nicolas Slonimsky’s Music of Latin America (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1945).